The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-04-21
PATRONYMICs OF MANY KINDS.
Some Queer English and German
Names and Their Supposed Origin.

Some queer English ana German
Names and Their Supposed Origin.
From tie PittstwTg Dispatch.
'tThe devil has got stuck" was the sur
prising statement of German grocer the
other day.
'GosStucki Well, that is news, said the
reporter who overheard the remark. "How
did that happenw
"Oh, you misunderstood! l said he has
got Stock-not stuck. He has been after him
for some time"
'You mean that Mr. Stock is deadF'
asked the reporter.
The German was so amused that he was
unable to reply for a minute or two, being
nearly choked with laughter.
II mean that my neighbor, Teufel, the
butcher, has been trying for some time to
hire man named Stock, with whom l am
| acquainted, and has at last succeeded in en-
gaging him. Now, do you catch on"
"Well, of all queer names, Teufel is the
| queerest," said the reporter.
1T is respectable German surname and
| no stranger than many other family names
would appear if converted into English"
said the grocer. For instance, l know
man named Zehfuss-toenail. Then we
have Dreifuss, which means three feet;
Langbein, long legs; Ochsenhirt, OK herd;
] Kleinhans, little Jack; Wolfschlager wolf
killer; Hundsblut, dogs blood; Pfankuch,
pancake; Gulenfnger, crooked finger;
| Schwarzkopf, veal; Knobeloch garlic;
Kraut cabbage, and scores OF Others that
| could name.
''For long names take these: Reimen-
schneider, Blankenbuhler, Schluesselbrun-
ner Schneiderlochner, Songenecker and
| Guckenheimer., Some of the Pennsylvania
| Dutch names, which have been partly trans
| formed into English, are the worst. Up In
| Armstrong county there are several
families by the name of Schreckengeist,
which signifies in German ghost or spec
| tire of terrible appearance. One would
think the name could be made no worse, but
some of the people have succeeded in trans
| forming it into Shrieking ghost. Milliron,
Morningstar, Redheffer and BarndOllar are
other German names which have been part
| ly translated"
81 don't know the origin of surnames, p"
said literary friend in conversation with
| the reporter st is certainly very an
| Gent, and a mark distinguishing civilized
people from savages The Romans had
| double, treble or even quadruple names, as
| for example: Caius Julius Cesar, Tar
| quinius Superbus and Quintus Fabius
Maximus. Frequently an honorary name
| was added to commemorate some warhke
achievement; Fabius was called Cunctator,
and Scipio Africanus.
| "Anglo-Saxons appear to have first given
surnames indicating some moral or mental
attributes, as, for instance, Wise, Good,
| Swift, Jolly, Merry, Meek, Gay, Goodman,
| Makepeace, etc. Then we have names indi-
eating real or fancied resemblance to some
animal such as Bear, Lion, Wolf, Hogg,
Hart and Hare From physical character
istics or peculiarities must have originated
such names as Long, Short, Black, Brown,
White Whitehead, Crookshank, Strong,
Armstrong, Longfellow and Greathead. A
nickname kept in a family for a generation
or two becomes patronymic. Hence such
names as Hopper, Jumper, Springer, Dad
dysman, Poor and Rich.
"The Nc and o of the Irish and the Mac
of the Scotch indicate descent. There is
another way in which the same thing Is
| shown: Adams son becomes Adamson,
David's son Davidson, Thompson, Wilson,
Williamson, Donaldson, Anderson and many
other names are similarly derived. LOCAL.
ties or places of residence originally gave
rise to such names as Hill, Dale, Wood
Green, Greenwood, Heath, Rivers, Waters
| and Parks Such names as Welsh, French,
Irish, Ireland, English and Scott may per-
haps be traced back to the nationality of
some remote ancestor.
"The names which were derived from oc-
cupaton are probably more numerous than
any other class We all know how wide
spread the Smith family is In the same
category belong the Clarks clerks original
ly), Cooks, Coopers, Bakers, BARRIERS, lay
lors, Shoemakers, Tanners, Farmers and
others. The months or days in which PEG
pie were born originated such names as
MAY, June, january, March, Friday and
Monday.
"The inns Of old England are probably
responsible for many names. For insta
John of the Rose became John X
Thomas of the Bell, Tom Bell; Richard OF
the Hank, Richard Hawk; Henry Of the
'oreathorse' became Henry Greathouse, and
SO on. until there is scarcely a bird, animal
or other device that ever figured on sign
board that is not perpetuated as family
name.
"rhere are, perhaps, as many queer
names among the English as among any
people on earth. Dickens stories abound in
them. vet very few Of his names were man
ufact,lred. Such names as Slaug hter, Start
up, Gotobed, Deadman, Churchyord, Dog
berry and Fudge are found in English direc
toriosn
Sometimes the very queerest OF names get
coupled together as the title of firm. Here
are a few specimens: Hook a. Ketch, Cobb
a. HAY, Peacock & Sparrow, Fox * Crane
Singer Il Hooter, Drake a. Gander, Fisher
a. Fowler, Goalin g. Pond, Wild Il Free.
The poverty Of invention OF the pioneer
community In America In the matter OF
names for towns results In bestowns some
absurd Applications On backwoods hanilcb'
Who can name county, either East OF
West, which has not some struggling VII
lage styled, Paris, Oxford, Jerusalcins Lon
don, Berlin, on something else equAhy an
surd.
Inyigorato tho Digestion.
BRANDRErH's PILLs inyigorate the a..